California

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Alpha Charter Edible Campus and Keyhole Garden

2016, Elverta, California, USAEdible Garden California student implementation planting

Students at Alpha Charter in Elverta were looking for a way to care for their watershed while also
beautifying their school’s campus and adding to the resources in the school’s new Farm to Fork/Garden Arts program.  Their proposal included the planting of fruit and shade trees on campus, installing water efficient drip irrigation, and building planter beds, including a “keyhole” teaching garden, which employs interesting alternative techniques to improve soil nutrient level while using less water.  Their project will not only benefit the environment, but also serve as an outdoor hands-on learning area for students in the school for years to come.

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Tree Planting at Lubin Elementary

2016, Sacramento, California, USA

Sandra Longfellow, a student at the MET Sacramento High School, has a special connection to
nearby David Lubin elementary school. First, through a program at The MET, she was placed in long-term internship at the elementary school. Second, David Lubin is her alma mater. When she found out about Caring for Our Watersheds, she knew this was a great opportunity to contribute to and improve the school’s campus she knows so well. After a recent removal of a hazard tree in the kindergarten yard, Sandra noticed a huge area left with bare soil directly adjacent to the storm drain. She met with the kindergarten teachers and PTG members to discuss plans for planting a Tree Planting Caring for Our watershed implementation dirty handsnew tree in the area, protecting it with a planter wall, and reseeding the remaining bare areas. The plantings would stabilize the bare soil and reduce sediment delivery to nearby waterways. Of course, the tree planting would also provide shade to the kids playing in the yard at recess and outdoor learning activities. Sandra organized special teams of kindergartners and their 6th grade “buddies” to help with site preparation and planting. After the planting, she organized “work parties” with school parents to build the planter wall and finish the remaining work. Nutrien project funding helped to buy supplies, soil, plants, and seeds for the project, which will benefit both the environment and the school community for generations to come.

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Garden Bed/ Compost Demo Project

2015 Sacramento, California, USAportable garden bed

When planning their Caring for Our Watersheds proposal, Micaela Negrete, Avery Kelly, and Sebastian Simmons wanted to build upon and strengthen student engagement in some of the existing resources at the school. While there was vermicomposting bin at their high school, The MET Sacramento, they knew a lot of incoming and existing students did not really understand what compost was and why creating and using compost was beneficial.  They decided to build a portable garden bed that could be used for educational demonstrations.

They planted one side in regular soil and the other in soil amended with compost and recorded measurements of plant growth over a period of time.  The Compost Instructionsgroup then planned and delivered a lesson to freshman at school on the benefits of compost, utilizing their demo garden bed and preliminary results from their own experiment.

The group hopes to give a similar lesson to a local preschool, in which they would incorporate an age appropriate coloring book and have students plant small vegetable starts. Caring for Our Watersheds project funds helped the group buy supplies to build the demonstration garden bed and materials for their lesson.

 

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Reusable Water Bottles

2015 Sacramento, California, USA
Justin and Kieran with water bottle
Justin Yu and Kieran Garcia from The MET Sacramento were concerned with excessive plastic water bottle use by the student body at their school.  They recognized that even know these bottles are recyclable, that many end up in the trash and thus landfill—or even littered around school and the community.  They also learned that some of the water used in plastic bottles was not necessarily from sustainable water sources or, in some cases, not different from tap water. They wanted to provide students with an easy alternative to plastic bottle use by providing reusable bottles to their classmates, and by delivering a PSA-like presentation to classes to encourage daily use.

With the help of Caring for Our Watersheds project funds, Justin and Kieran purchased reusable bottles and prepared a presentation for their classmates on the negative effects plastic water bottles have on the environment, the benefits of reusable bottles, and other simple ways to practice sustainability in one’s daily life.   They were able to distribute the bottles to their advisory class as well as raffle them off to other students that attended their presentation.

 

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Landscape for Water Conservation

2015 Sacramento, California, USA
Group planting
Colusa High School Students Gabriel Garcia and Jennifer Pulido identified an area of their campus that was in need of improvement. It was a large area of bare ground that, in the event of a storm, would become a source of excess sediment due to surface runoff from the school. It was also a highly visible spot that would make an excellent gathering place for students during lunch or outdoor learning opportunities.

Their idea was to implement a landscaping project in this area with native, drought tolerant species.  Their project would demonstrate the use of native species that require less watering, and do not need fertilizers and pesticides, thus addressing issues of water quantity and quality.
They hoped to beautify their campus, reduce sediment delivery, and create habitat, but also to inspire other members of their community to landscape with water conservation in mind as well.

After Gabriel and Jennifer took 6th place in the Caring for Our Watersheds Final Competition, they wanted to make their idea come to life. With the help of the students of their school’s Environmental Science Academy, their project was accomplished.  With the help of Caring for Our Watersheds project funds, high traffic areas of the site were covered with fabric and gravel, landscape beds were built around the perimeter, drip irrigation installed, and native species planted.

 

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Tree Planting at Pony Express Elementary School

2015 Sacramento, California, USA
students with shovels
The MET Sacramento students Allison Goi, Mianna Muscat, and Justin Yu wanted to improve their watershed, while also providing a needed service to an elementary school is their area.  As they reached out to local elementary schools, they found that Pony Express Elementary had formal plans to create a Nature Area, which would both provide habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals, as well as serve as an outdoor learning space for the students.  To support and start the first phase of the project, Allison, Mianna, and Justin planted four different native species of trees in the designated area on campus. Caring for Our Watersheds project funds allowed them to purchase the trees and tools necessary for the work.  As they planted while school was in session, they were able to interact with and answer questions from the elementary students and staff about the tree species and the benefit they will provide the campus and watershed. The were happy to be able to enhance their community in this way and kick-off a great project at a nearby school.

 

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Bee Boxes

2015 Sacramento, California, USA
Students building bee box
As Noah Crockette, Jack Gumbiner, William Neves, and Jacob Reynolds, students at the MET Sacramento High School, researched environmental issues in the agricultural landscape surrounding Sacramento, they became concerned with the threats pollinators were facing. In many places, pollinators, and their essential service of pollination, are at risk from habitat loss, pesticide use, and introduced diseases.  They also found that since the 1990’s, bee biologists started to notice a decline in the abundance and distribution of several wild bumblebee species.  These students decided to focus their efforts on bumblebee conservation by creating habitat for this particular species group.  With Caring for Our Watersheds project funds, they were able to build four bumblebee boxes and install them on a farm located near Dry Creek in the Sacramento River Watershed.

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Native Pollinator Project – Plantings and Information Kiosk

2015 Auburn, California, USA
Emma Forester smiling by flowers
Antelope High School student Emma Forester partnered with Placer Land Trust to complete a project focused on increasing habitat for native pollinators.  As Emma researched pollinators and the essential service they provide to agriculture and natural vegetation, she learned of issues and threats to their survival from habitat loss, pesticide use, and introduced diseases.  She decided she could help by planting native species to increase pollinator habitat and with the help of Placer Land Trust, found a perfect location at Auburn School Park, adjacent to a community garden. By providing nectar sources to forage in, she would encourage bees and other pollinators to help pollinate the plants in the community garden.  Her plantings would also help stabilize the slope next to the garden that was weedy and prone to erosion.

After clearing the weeds and prepping the area, Emma planted several pounds native flowering plant seeds. As she returned the following season, she saw that “the flowers bloomed beautifully and there were tons of little black bumble bees that are buzzing around!” After the initial seed planting, Caring for Our Watersheds project funds allowed Emma and volunteers to terrace group planting
another slope and plant small shrubs and forbs there. Emma, with her dad’s help, built a kiosk to hold information about her pollinator project and other garden information. She also built a bee box for native burrowing bees like carpenter bees and bumble bees that will be mounted in a far corner of the garden where it won’t be disturbed.

As an extension to her project, Emma is working on both an educational pamphlet for the garden and a short awareness video that can be used by Placer Land Trust in their educational tours.

 

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Restoration and Invasive Removal at Consumnes

2015 Galt, California, USA
Students with wheel barrow and bucket
Students at Christian Brothers High School (CBHS) implemented a project first proposed by their fellow classmate, Tristan Trillo. Tristan originally proposed an invasive species removal and native plant restoration project along Sacramento River.

When it became apparent that the original site would not be possible, we helped connect students with land managers at the Cosumnes River Preserve, who welcomed students’ help with a habitat restoration/ expansion project along a tributary in the preserve.

Students helped to remove invasive species in the restoration area, as well as re-mulching and watering existing trees and replanting if necessary. Their work helped to reduce competition from non-native species in the area and, as the planted trees grow, provide additional habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Caring for Our Watersheds project funding helped support student transportation to the site, food, and other needs for their work in the field.

 

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Rain Barrels on Campus

2015 Sacramento, California, USA
Allison with rain barrels
Allison Goi, like many Californians, has been concerned with the multi-year drought in this region. She wanted to focus her Caring for Our Watersheds project on water conservation and more efficient water use at her school, The MET Sacramento.

To that end, she proposed the installation of several rain barrels on campus, specifically in the garden area at school. Water collected in the barrels would be used to irrigate the various garden plantings, thus lowering the school’s city water use for this purpose.Allison with rain barrels 2

With project funds from Caring for Our Watersheds, Allison purchased (4) 50 gallon rain barrels and worked with facilities staff to install them by two downspouts in the garden area. Facilities staff modified the downspouts in order to best fill the barrels and agreed to maintain the system in the future. The barrels will collect and store a total of 200 gallons of water to be used in the garden are as needed.  To make it easy to use the watering system, the barrels have been placed on shelves, 18 inches off the ground, and Allison attached 50 foot hoses to the barrels at both sites. Lastly, Allison educated the Garden Club about the project, as they will be group utilizing the system the most.